I'm always happy when someone brings this post back to life :D

As I sayed some months ago, I browsed the files of the history museum of sweden, wich has information on the helmets of both vendel and valsgaarde, but I didn't find anything on the swords...
Are these, in fact, in this museum? If not, where are they?
(Did anyone actually saw them?)

All this question are because I'm interested on the materials and building procedures:
Are the guards made of bronce? brass? gold, perhaps?
What is the cloissone holding? Is it amber? some kind of stone? garnet, maybe?
Is the "cap" of the pommel hilt hollow? Is the tang riveted after the last layer of the pommel hilt, or one of the layers has a hole to cover the riveted end?
Do the flat faces of the hilts have any decoration? (Some pics show a few, but... the others?)


Andres

Andres,

I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks in Sweden and Denmark three years ago and got to visit a lot of museums.

There are a few select items from the Vendel/Valsgarde burials in the National Musuem in Stockholm, in the 'Gold Room' down in the basement. Unfortunately, security is very tight there and photography is not allowed so I've got no record of those.

There are a few items in the Gustavianum Museum in Upsalla, which I've got photos of but the vast majority of the Vendel/Valsgarde collection is in the purpose built museum at Gamla Uppsala, next to the King's Mounds. Again, photography is not allowed within the museum but I'm afraid that temptation proved too great...especially as I had the whole gallery to myself. The pictures I've got aren't brilliant (the display cases are very well lit and highly reflective) but, as long as the site owners here don't mind, I'm happy to put them up here.

I do have some knowledge as to the construction questions that you ask but I'll eave them for Paul to answer as his will be much more informative.

Here's one shot that should be okay to post, taken with museum permission. Shows of fthe combination of stamped gold sheet and silver gilt elements, as well as the garnets in the pommel cap.

You can clearly see that the pommel cap iteself is hollow to allow for the head of the tang.

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Below are the photos of the migration period ring sword that I took in the Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne, Germany. Note the construction of the scabbard.

The inscription said:

Das Ringknaufschwert stammt aus einem Kriegergrab des fränkischen Friedhofs von Bad Wünnenberg-Fürstenberg.
Die aus verschiedenen Werkstoffen (Holz, Leder, Fell, Hanfschnur) gearbeitete Schwertscheide hatte sich im Boden so gut erhalten, dass sie rekonstruiert werden konnte.
Beim Nachbau der Schwertscheide im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes entdeckten die Restauratoren die zeitgenössischen Herstellungstechniken wieder.

2. Hälfte 6. Jahrhundert

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Lovely!

If you've got higher res copies of the scabbard pictures, could I ask you to email them to me please? Bigger the better.

Thanks

Matt

Matthew,
Artis,

I've sent you the original photos.

I'm an idiot :\

For some reason I was thinking there were more that hadn't been posted yet.

Many thanks Victor. Excellent and useful.

@ Viktor Genke: would you please send me the original pictures from the scabbard to? I reconstuct a spatha from the early 7th century and found this type of sheath decoration on a corresponding piece from Aubing (Germany), wich fits perfectly to my project. Your pictures would be more than usefull.
Greetings from Austria,
Martin Fasching

Many thanks Victor, those are some excellent photos showing the scabbard construction layers -wood, leather, string for decoration and then wrapped with glued linen. That looks like casein glue lamination as it gets glossy like that. That's not often seen. Giebigs diagrams of similar finds shows a more oval blade recess than this straight cut that's very common in modern reproductions. Perhaps both types were in use at the time.

Very interesting that the original scabbard is reasonably intact also given the age, you can even see the linen fabric in some small remaining sections.

Hi Ian,

The inscription said:

Ostgotische Waffen
8 Schwertscheidenbeschlag aus Gold mit granatbesetztem Mundband. Fundort: Kertsch.
9 Helm mit Silberbesatz und edelsteinverzierung. Fundort: Südrußland.
10 Schildbuckel mit Nachahmungen von völkerwanderungszeitlichen Münzen. Fundort: unbekannt.

Here is another photo of the helmet:

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Gothic helm